Exchange of HD with boron phosphate

Abstract

The reaction of HD on boron phosphate produces H₂ and D₂ in approximately 4/1 proportions. The concentrations of HD, H₂ and D₂ present in the gas phase at various times were employed to calculate rates of reaction and the loss of deuterium atoms from the gas phase as a function of time. This latter data, when combined with a suitable model for the rate of chemisorption, permitted activation energies for deuterium pickup by the surface as a function of surface coverage to be calculated. The two samples of boron phosphate employed yield data which suggest the existence of both empty and exchangeable sites for deuterium, and a distribution of exchange or hydrogen binding energies over the surface of each catalyst.